How old must my basset puppy be....?

Consult your vet on proper weight for your dog; he must judge by her age and bone structure. Just remember that vets don't study animal nutrition in vet school: they get a few hours' of lectures sponsored by pet-food companies... so guess what they're taught?

Puppy food is a scam. Stop falling for it. There are some vets who believe that over-nutrient-packed diets contribute to hip dysplasia and other structural issues, since it encourages the dog's musculature to grow faster than the bones can grow.

Most high-end, grain-free kibbles are better than anything you buy in the pet food aisle of the grocery store. Personally, I feed my dog actual food.

I have lost all confidence in the commercial dog food industry since the melamine poisonings; just this month 360 dogs have died, poisoned by a chicken jerky treat made in China. I don't buy anything for my dog from a pet food manufacturer. Food isn't "manufactured"-- it grows. I cannot recommend feeding any of the commercial varieties of meat-flavored baked paste with chemicals added, or the canned versions thereof.

The dog’s natural diet is raw meat on the bone. Try it. The dog will love it, the diet will help him teethe properly as a pup, keep his teeth clean the rest of his life, satisfy his lifelong need to chew and results in innocuous feces.

I feed raw/prey model; my 50-pound chow mix gets 8- 12oz a day, but when I have a gorge meal for her, like a turkey carcass that will take her 4-5 hours to eat, she won't be hungry or interested in food for 2-3 days. In general, a dog is fed 2-3% of the ideal body weight each day. A puppy gets 2-3% of the ideal anticipated adult weight each day, divided into 4 meals.

The ideal diet should consist of approximately 80% raw meat, 10% raw edible bone, 5% raw liver, 5% other raw organs, the occasional egg, shell and all, raw.

NO veggies, NO fruit. Dogs cannot digest vegetables or fruits; they lack the enzyme necessary to break down cellulose. Look at cows: they have the enzyme, and they still need four stomachs and they have to eat the cellulose twice. Dogs have one stomach and a straight-and-simple digestive tract.

They also don't have flat-topped grinding molars: the dog's back teeth are carnassials, designed to scissor through meat and bone, to break up prey animal carcasses into chunks small enough to swallow.

NO grains; again, dogs can't digest cellulose, and the other ingredients are the primary cause of allergies and diabetes in dogs.

NO dairy; dogs are lactose intolerant: another digestive enzyme they don't have.

NO supplements other than a spoonful of deepsea fish body oil for the Omega-3 that corn-finished meat does not contain.

Chewing up raw meat takes work, as does chomping through the incidental bones. The exercise involved in handling Big Complicated Food (several days' worth), and in breaking up bones into swallowing -size chunks, keeps dogs teeth clean and satisfies a part of their brain that nothing else touches. These dogs are less hyper, friendlier... and a bit more inclined to protect their food: after all, this food is worth protecting!

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/

http://preymodelraw.com/how-to-get-started/

http://www.rawfed.com/

http://www.rawfeddogs.net/

http://www.rawfeeding.net/

http://www.rawlearning.com/

http://blacksheepcardigans.com/ruff/raw-diet/

http://www.lhasa-apso.org/health/carnivorediet.htm...

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/groups.rawfeeding/

The basic idea is to approximate a wild diet as closely as possible; raw meat on the bone and small amounts of organ meat [liver is most important, but also kidneys, pancreas, spleen, lungs and green tripe]. Most raw feeders that I've read have started their dogs on chicken: it is readily available and inexpensive, plus it is antibiotic- and hormone-free. The fat content is easy to control by how much of the skin you remove.

Just defrost the chicken parts on the counter, not in the microwave: the microwave may cook bone on the inside of the piece, and cooked chicken bones are deadly.

usually u should switch around 1 year old :) if u have a petsmart in ur area u should go and asked them the question :)

The mother weans them - they can be released to new homes at about 10 weeks old.